bō ({wave (of water/sound/etc.)} [→ [unexpected turn of events]] 波) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”
[Note: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”, tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”.]
As of this writing, early in the year 2022, the subject of the COVID-19 pandemic has been, to say the least, on people’s minds now for a while. So, it would be good to be able to refer to things related to it in Mandarin when speaking to people in the Mandarin field, or when speaking to our brothers and sisters in the truth.
An electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19
NIAID
This week’s MEotW, “bō ({wave (of water/sound/etc.)} [→ [unexpected turn of events]] 波)”, means “wave”, as in “fourth COVID-19 wave”. It’s the “bō ({wave (of water/sound/etc.)} [→ [unexpected turn of events]] 波)” in “bōlàng (bō·làng wave (of the sea) 波浪)”, a relatively well-known word which refers to a wave of the sea.
To say, for example, “fourth COVID-19 wave” in Mandarin, one could say:
“dì‐sì ((dì [pref to form ordinal numbers] 第)‐(sì four 四) → [fourth]) bō ({wave of} 波) COVID-19”
Note that sometimes, people may put words like “yìqíng (yì·qíng epidemic · situation (used, e.g., to refer to the COVID-19 situation) 疫情)”, “làngcháo (làng·cháo wave · tide 浪潮)”, etc. after the above expression.
Google Wave Frequencies
The following tables of numbers of Google search results give us an idea of how frequently the above-mentioned contruction is used.
| Search Terms | Google Results Approx. No. |
|---|---|
"第一波" covid("dì‐yī ((dì [pref to form ordinal numbers] 第)‐(yī one 一) → [first]) bō (wave 波)" covid) |
1,890,000 |
"第一波covid"("dì‐yī ((dì [pref to form ordinal numbers] 第)‐(yī one 一) → [first]) bō ({wave of} 波) covid") |
15,600 |
| Search Terms | Google Results Approx. No. |
|---|---|
"第二波" covid("dì‐èr ((dì [pref to form ordinal numbers] 第)‐(èr two 二) → [second]) bō (wave 波)" covid) |
1,100,000 |
"第二波covid"("dì‐èr ((dì [pref to form ordinal numbers] 第)‐(èr two 二) → [second]) bō ({wave of} 波) covid") |
70,600 |
| Search Terms | Google Results Approx. No. |
|---|---|
"第三波" covid("dì‐sān ((dì [pref to form ordinal numbers] 第)‐(sān three 三) → [third]) bō (wave 波)" covid) |
1,150,000 |
"第三波covid"("dì‐sān ((dì [pref to form ordinal numbers] 第)‐(sān three 三) → [third]) bō ({wave of} 波) covid") |
5,170 |
| Search Terms | Google Results Approx. No. |
|---|---|
"第四波" covid("dì‐sì ((dì [pref to form ordinal numbers] 第)‐(sì four 四) → [fourth]) bō (wave 波)" covid) |
164,000 |
"第四波covid"("dì‐sì ((dì [pref to form ordinal numbers] 第)‐(sì four 四) → [fourth]) bō ({wave of} 波) covid") |
5,510 |
| Search Terms | Google Results Approx. No. |
|---|---|
"第五波" covid("dì‐wǔ ((dì [pref to form ordinal numbers] 第)‐(wǔ five 五) → [fifth]) bō (wave 波)" covid) |
711,000 |
"第五波covid"("dì‐wǔ ((dì [pref to form ordinal numbers] 第)‐(wǔ five 五) → [fifth]) bō ({wave of} 波) covid") |
1,850 |